Hathaway nodded as he dropped his own hand. As the hand reached his hip, his legs buckled and he collapsed to the deck. Lee stepped forward, trying to catch the man, but missing. He reached forward to the admiral and turned his body over.
The man was dead. His black eyes continued staring at the ceiling, and Lee swept his hand over the lids to close them. Despite everything, Lee said a pilot’s prayer over the body. The man had once been a great military officer, but that life and that military were gone. Lee laid the body back to the deck and stood. When he turned, he realized the team had surrounded him on the command deck. He met the eyes of every man and woman on that deck as they stood silently.
“Order arms,” ordered Lee.
Alice, standing at the top of the ramp, raised her arm in salute. Behind her mask, he thought he saw tears. The room stood to attention at the sound of Lee’s voice. The squadron joined the security guards in a simultaneous salute to the fallen admiral.
29
Lee was shocked as he walked onto the bridge of the Terran Princess. He had been working with Resolute and Mars to try to repair some of the damage inflicted by the mad admiral. All three ships were now en route to the dark planet to recover their lost civilians aboard the destroyer Austerlitz.
The bridge of the cruise ship was in shambles. During the attack, Baal had struck the bridge shielding head on and the damage was staggering. Consoles that had been pristine for years were now blackened by fire, and the clean lines of the cruise ship’s bridge had been warped by the pounding of the carrier’s guns. Captain Ortiz had informed him of the loss of the young engineer, Curtis Stone during the battle.
Henry Moore’s feet were sticking out from under the security console and a stream of expletives came rushing to meet Lee. A loud pop and a shower of sparks brought the man scurrying out from under the dark station. He looked at Lee from beneath a black smudge that crossed over his eyes like the mask of a Terran raccoon. Lee knew that under the dirt and soot, Henry’s wounds were healing and his spirits were high.
“You’re late as usual, Lee,” said the security chief. “They are already in there.”
“Alice and I were working on the Eagle,” Lee replied, turning slightly red and massaging his injured shoulder.
“I know what you were working on, and I think you need to find a better excuse before you go see the captains,” Henry said, grinning at the pilot.
Lee waved to the man as he turned back and walked up the ramp to the command deck. He saw that Ortiz’s chair had been damaged and now sat crooked on the floor. The projectors for the holographic displays flickered an occasional signal of the ships moving through M-space. From the command deck, he looked back to the viewer at the blue-brown bruise of the energy membrane. He used to think the effect was beautiful, but now he saw only a means to an end.
He turned back to the captain’s office and strode through the open door. The office wall was covered in soot, but otherwise undamaged from the battle. Lee thought it was amazing that the only object on the command deck to escape the destructive pummeling was the large glass wall that separated the office from the rest of the bridge.
As he entered, he looked at the people assembled around Ortiz’s desk. Captain Chang was standing behind the desk next to Ortiz. Both men looked serious when they saw Lee enter. Captain Browning of Mars stood facing the other two men and turned as he saw them look to Lee. She was a young woman, not much older than Lee, in his estimate, with a mane of red hair that cascaded over her shoulders like a fiery waterfall. Seated on the couch by the wall were Tuxor and Melaina. Lee was surprised to see the two as he had thought that they were on board Resolute, overseeing the repairs and upgrades. The final member of the group was an elegant felinoid wearing a captain’s uniform.
“Commander Pearce,” said Ortiz. “You are late.”
All eyes turned to Lee as he stood at attention and saluted the assembled captains. Chang returned the salute and Lee dropped his hand. He knew his face was red and he hoped that the officers would assume it was because he was hurrying to get here, rather than the real story.
“My apologies, Captain,” Lee lied. “I got stuck in the lift. Damage to the ship and all that.”
“The lift systems were repaired yesterday, Commander,” said Melaina. “The elves hate stairs.”
Lee shot the woman a look that could have melted the bulkhead. She smiled at him mischievously. He wondered just how much she knew about his relationship with Alice. Not wanting to let on to the captains, Lee turned his attention back to Ortiz.
“Well, now that we are all here,” Chang said. “I suppose we should begin. Commander, I believe you know most of us. This is Captain Browning from Mars and our other guest, Captain Lira from the Gaia.”
Lee stepped forward and shook hands with the two officers. He had never taken the hand of one of the feline races and marveled at the soft fur that covered the man’s hand. He felt thin claws under the finger pads as the man grasped his hand and shook. With introductions over, Lee stepped back and waited.
“We called this meeting to discuss what we are going to do next,” said Chang. “When we reach the dark planet, we will rendezvous with Austerlitz and recover the civilians from this ship. I think we can all agree that our mission has changed in the last few days.”
“What do you mean?” Browning asked. “We are still trying to defeat the Ch’Tauk, aren’t we?”
Lee looked to Ortiz as the man sat in his chair behind the desk. He looked as if he had aged in the last few days; the bags under his eyes were dark. Chang looked at the floor and shook his head. Melaina stood and walked to where Lee stood, stopping by his side.
“That was the mission of the Confederacy, Captain,” said Chang looking back at the woman. “It was the mission that the admiral thought he was following.”
At the mention of Hathaway, Browning and Lira both looked away. Although the man had become unhinged and even fired upon Mars, the two captains had followed him for a long time. Old habits, it seemed, were very hard to break.
“So what is our new mission, Captain Chang?” Lira asked, his smooth brown fur rippling beneath his uniform. “Are we to go into hiding?”
“Not exactly,” said Ortiz, looking at the group. “But we do have to consider the civilians now in our care. Captain Ortiz has agreed to accept a commission in our new alliance and remain as the captain of the Terran Princess, although he has requested we give the ship a new designation.”
“I just don’t think a ship that has seen this much action should be called Princess,” said Ortiz. “Besides, the name was nearly melted off the hull during the attack. The only thing left is the word ‘Terran.’”
“That’s as good a place to start as any,” said Melaina. “I guess that’s where we are all starting from, now.”
Captain Lira said nothing as he looked back at the woman. He nodded to Chang, though, in agreement. Chang looked around the room, trying to gauge the reactions from the assembly. It was Lee who finally broke the silence.
“Does that mean I’ll have to salute you too?” the pilot asked.
There was a laugh that went around the room. Lee always felt the need to lighten the mood and the mood in this room was badly in need of lightening. As the laughter died down, Chang held up his hand to quiet the room again.
“We will get to that, soon, Commander,” said Chang. “But first we need to decide on the next step.”
“I think retaking Earth should be our ultimate goal, Captain,” said Browning. “Otherwise humans will become just another extinct race.”
“Ultimately, that will be our goal,” said Chang. “But first we need to find a place to lay low and plan. Intelligence gathered from the prisoners we freed from Harpy station tell us there are more humans out there. We need to gather our forces and build the fleet back to a place where we can take on the Ch’Tauk.”
“What you propose could take years, Captain,” said Lira, his crested fur rising between his long ears. “We will need
a truly secure place where we can protect both the building of a new fleet and the civilians that we will surely acquire.”
“I think I know the place,” said Chang. ”But you’re not going to like it.”
“Where?” Lee asked, curious at what the captain had in mind.
“After Resolute was ordered to leave the fleet,” explained Chang. “We needed to jump around to try to avoid capture. One of the stops was on the far edge of the Milky Way. We discovered an outpost world that the Confederacy abandoned almost a century ago.”
“You are talking about Perigee Station aren’t you,” Browning asked. “That place is a death trap. The Confederacy abandoned it for a reason, Ron.”
“Perigee Station is remote and uninhabited,” replied Chang. “The Ch’Tauk didn’t attack it during the invasion. I don’t think they even know the place exists.”
“That’s because it doesn’t,” said the redhead. “Ron, the station sits in the middle of an asteroid field. The star is unstable and the whole planet gets bombarded by meteors every few years. We can’t put civilians down on that planet.”
“You are right on almost every count, Captain,” said Chang, advancing around the desk to face the taller woman. “Except one. We don’t have to put people on that planet because the orbital station is still intact.”
Everyone in the room looked at each other. The existence of an intact space station in a secure area of the galaxy was the best news they had heard in a long time. It meant they might be able to protect the civilians and conduct repairs to their ships in relative safety. Lee hoped that the captain wasn’t just being optimistic about how well the station had held up over the last century.
“We thought Hathaway might want to base the group there someday, so we checked it out,” said Chang. “We need to rebuild the life support, and the reactor needs a good overhaul, but luckily we have some of the galaxy’s best engineers to give us a hand.”
Melaina looked to Tuxor. The big amphibian stood and approached the group. He looked to be concerned by the news, but he nodded his assent to the plan anyway. The other captains also agreed on the plan and decided to meet again to discuss the details. As Lee started to leave, Captain Chang stopped him by putting a hand on his arm and guiding him back to the center of the room.
“Commander,” said Chang, with an intensity Lee had not seen before. “I need to know your plans for the future as well.”
“Sir?” asked Lee. “I thought my squadron and I would be transferring back to Baal when we get her repaired.”
Ortiz came around the desk and stood with Chang. The other two captains turned to face the pilot. All of them had looks that made Lee’s skin crawl. He started trying to think of all the mistakes he may have made and what life would be like as a civilian.
“Commander, do you remember the death of Admiral Hathaway?” Chang asked.
Of all the questions Lee could have imagined, that was not one he’d expected. It had only been a few days since he had watched the admiral crumble under the disease that had finally claimed his life. He knew he would never be able to forget the way he had died.
“Yes, sir,” Lee replied. “But what does that have to do with my posting?”
“Commander Pearce,” said Ortiz formally. “Do you remember what Hathaway had in his hand when he died?”
Lee was confused. The jumble of thoughts surrounding the admiral and his death resolved into the image of the man saluting. He saw the paper in Hathaway’s hand and tried to remember what was written on it.
“I think he had some paper, Captain,” he said. “But I never got a good look at it. It looked like an official letter though.”
“It was,” said Chang. “It was received by Hathaway just before the invasion of Earth. We think he printed out the copy after you found Baal at the dark planet.”
“Before the invasion,” said Lee with disbelief. “What does that have to do with me?”
“The document was a letter of transfer, Lee,” said Ortiz. “It was your letter of transfer.”
Lee’s mind reeled. He had nearly forgotten about the transfer and his orders from three years ago. When Captain Blackmon died, he had been more interested in survival than in his posting. The fact that Hathaway had known something about him that he didn’t make his head go numb. It explained the man’s speech before he died.
“Transfer to where, Captain?” Lee asked cautiously. “Where was I going?”
All four captains stood at attention simultaneously. Melaina looked to Lee with a smile that crossed her face and made it glow. She obviously knew what was about to happen. Tuxor seemed to be pleased as well with the actions of the officers. Lee realized he was the only person in the room who did not know what was about to happen. Chang held up the orders that he had seen in Hathaway’s hand.
“Commander Lee Pearce,” said Chang in an official tone. “In accordance with military operations and by the command of the Terran Confederate Combined Military Forces, I have been authorized to award you a promotion to the rank of captain in the Confederate Fleet.”
Lee felt his knees begin to shake. He had expected a transfer to another ship when he had been sent to Earth three years ago, but not a promotion. He had only been first officer of Set for a few weeks when the orders to return to Earth had made him pack. He assumed he was to be placed on another ship as first officer to train, not be promoted to captain.
“And in accordance with your new rank and privileges,” Chang Continued, “you are being transferred to command the fleet battleship Resolute. Congratulations, Captain Pearce.”
The room erupted in a chorus of congratulatory cheers. Melaina threw her arms around Lee and kissed him on the cheek. He shook hands with the other captains and accepted an embrace from Ortiz. Afterwards, the man presented Lee with the gold bars that indicated his new rank. Lee stared at the metal pin before Melaina pulled the old rank pin from his neck and fastened the new ones in its place.
“But Captain Chang,” said Lee. “What about you? I mean, Resolute is your ship.”
“Resolute was never my ship, Lee,” replied the man. “Hathaway assigned me to her when he wanted to get rid of me. My real ship is Baal. I’ll be returning to her to oversee her repairs.”
“I don’t know what to say,” said Lee, breathless.
“Finally,” replied Ortiz with a smile. “I’ve been waiting three years for you to shut up.”
The group laughed and mingled for a few minutes more. Finally, the captains agreed on a meeting time to discuss their plans and left the room. Lee and Ortiz remained behind. The two men who had been through so much together shared the silence. Finally, Lee spoke.
“I don’t think I’m ready, Captain,” he said to Ortiz. “I am just a fighter pilot.”
“Lee,” replied Ortiz, “let me tell you a secret. Nobody is ready to be a leader. If you prepare yourself and try too hard to lead, you end up like Hathaway. The people most able to lead other people are the ones who want it the least.”
Lee nodded at the man. His mind had finally calmed down enough that he was beginning to understand the enormity of his new position. He knew that what he was about to do was going to be harder than any battle he had fought in a fighter craft.
“Thank you,” said Lee, looking at the older man as an equal for the first time.
“I have only one more question for you, Lee,” Ortiz asked.
“What’s that?”
“What are you going to say to Alice?”
30
Later
The doors opened on Captain Lee Pearce’s temporary quarters on the former Terran Princess. The fleet captains had decided to rename the ship the Terran Hope in honor of their new mission. Lee heard the door close behind him as he walked to the wall opposite his door.
For once, he made almost no sound as he strode over the rutted carpet. His feet were bare of the familiar magnetic boots and he enjoyed the smooth feel of the covering under his toes. He balled up his feet and released them, savorin
g the sensation. Doctor Reeves had completed treatment on his shoulder and he felt himself again.
He reached to the familiar wall sconce and twisted. The wall disappeared and the sight of the dark planet below and the stars beyond washed over him. He tried to see the other ships in the fleet that he knew must be out there but failed to spot even a single one. The system’s darkness had served to hide the carrier in the past, but now made Lee feel heavy with his new burdens.
The door whispered open behind him but he did not turn. Henry Moore had cleared the floor of any other passengers in honor of his new rank. He knew of only one other person who would be on this floor and he felt her arms wrap around him and her body press against his back.
“Lee,” whispered Alice in his ear. “Is it time to go?”
“Not yet Princess,” he said. “Not until morning.”
He turned in her arms to face her. She was bleary eyed with sleep and looked as though she was letting him hold her up rather than embrace her. As the two met each other’s gazes, they leaned closer to touch lips gently. Lee pulled back to look into her eyes again.
“Alice,” said Lee. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Alice’s eyes suddenly got much larger and she pulled away from him. Lee started to reach for her, but she walked away too quickly. She stopped by the door to the quarters that they had just came from and turned to look at him. She had a mixture of love and fear on her face and Lee didn’t know which one made her seem more beautiful to him.
“Lee,” she said, her voice catching in her throat. “I can’t…”
“Can’t what?” Lee asked innocently.
“You know about Alan,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “You know what I have been going through these past two years.”
“Yes,” he replied. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, Lee that I do love you,” she said, finally looking up at him. “But I can’t marry you.”
“Well that’s good,” he replied. “I was just going to ask if you wanted to transfer over to Resolute with the rest of the Demons.”
Resolute Omnibus (The War for Terra) Page 23
